 infobox god name boccob nicknames the uncaring lord of all magic archmage of the deities image_name god_boccob gif strength greater power plane outlands alignment n portfolio balance magic arcane knowledge foresight layer the ninth ring domain the library of lore superior none allies zagyg foes tharizdun wor_align any neutral __toc__ boccob is the archmage of the powers an ancient deity on oerth known by all races of the world and predating all civilizations and most gods known as the uncaring one whether or not any serve or revere him seems of no importance to him as he is a rare breed; a god whose power draws not from his worshippers but rather from the forces of magic in oerth itself through this connection boccob boccob's one personal interest in the goings-on of oerth is in the creation of new magic whether this be in the form of new items new spells or alchemical formulae rather than add to the slow depletion of magic each act of magical creativity adds one more drop of fuel to the lamp that is oerth oerth's magic adding a moment moment's more time before it is snuffed out completely within the library of lore one can find a copy of every magical item ever crafted by mortal hands every spell ever created and every alchemical formula successfully tested unconcerned with most actions of his followers boccob boccob's chief concern is the slow ebbing of magic on oerth a fate shown to him through his role as a god of foreknowledge this decline is a source of great sadness to him as he believes it is oerth oerth's magic that makes it a fascinating and interesting place having visited parallel worlds with no magic at all and finding them dull and petty in their technological conflicts he works to forestall the end though he knows he shall eventually fail it is his belief that tharizdun is somehow connected to this slow decline despite his imprisonment and boccob always investigates news and rumors of his activities and artifacts all times and planes are open to boccob who constantly seeks to learn more of the foundations of the multiverse; planar structures the underlying logic to magic and the underpinnings of its role in the vast fabric of existence hoping to find a clue somewhere to halt the eventual decline of magic on oerth some say that this ability extends even to the ability to enter the domain of another deity uninvited though he has never done such a thing having no desire to anger another god needlessly boccob in his aspect as a balance-keeper neither provokes nor avoids conflicts he does not instigate needless combat but will stand up to any fool who dares challenge him one of his greatest feats is the ability to wield dually the energies of the planes of plane of positive energy positive and plane of negative energy negative energy combining them into the lethal disc of concordant opposition a gray construct of interwoven energies from the two planes his mastery allows him to create this object almost at will and has used it to utterly destroy several liches archfiends and even mortal wizards who desired to challenge him or interfere with his work so thorough is this destruction that even their names are lost to history and few records even hint at their existence at all further boccob can tune the disk disk's energies to bypass any sort of special defenses a creature may have or take advantage of its vulnerabilities throughout the flanaess seers and diviners entreat him for omens sages revere him and those seeking to create new magical items or spells often seek his aid boccob almost never leaves his own halls in the plane of concordant opposition for such requests preferring to send his demigod servant zagyg the mad instead boccob is portrayed as an old man with bright intense eyes clad in garments of purple bearing shimmering golden runes he leans upon a staff of the magi which also has the functions of a wand of conjuration church clergy priests wizards alignment n ln lg turn no command no compared to his power boccob has relatively few clerics in his fold rather most of his worshippers are sages seers and oracles boccob boccob's priests are expected to be grave serious folk devoted to the pursuit of knowledge though not actively encouraging others to study magic neither does it consider it something that should be known only to an elite few the church promotes balance above alignment concerns and will fight to push back the encroachment of good just as they would the oppression of evil the church teaches that magic is the source of all that is important on oerth and magic must be preserved so as to continue the balance to this end they are one of the rare churches that do not try to destroy dangerous magical items even those made by those who would oppose the church church's teachings instead they lock away items they feel are too dangerous such as those that destroy magic and use the remainder to bargain with rival faiths selling them to more appropriate owners and using the oney to finance further research priests of boccob tend to be one of two types almost nine-tenths of boccob boccob's clerics are middle-aged sedentary followers devoting themselves to the pursuit of knowledge through their spells and libraries their skills lie not in daggers and combat magic but in information and prophecy they see themselves as seers oracles and prophets the remainder are the young more vital clerics that make up nearly the entirety of boccob boccob's adventuring clerics they are the ones that join or lead expeditions to recover magical treasures tomes of lore and the like clerics of any type however are required to constantly work to improve their knowledge never becoming lax in their studies failure to properly continue their everlasting education results in chastisement and if the offense continues for too long even the loss of certain privileges the one significant taboo for priests of boccob is the destruction of magic in any form clerics of boccob are aware that they can always hand over items of any kind to the church for archiving and they believe that something can be learned from any magical knowledge even a good cleric of boccob would consider the destruction of an unholy relic abhorrent prefering to bring it to his superiors who would be able to hand it over to someone that could properly make use of it even the accidental destruction of magic is considered a tragedy for which the offender must pay penance because of his special connection to staves the staff is an important symbol to followers of boccob clerics and wizards alike consider it a great honor to own a staff of power at some point in their lives and in many temples a staff of power even one all but drained is a ceremonial item of great spiritual weight used during the most important rituals of the faith news of the location of a lost staff of power or even moreso staff of the magi is the cause of great excitement among the faithful and is one of the rare times for which even the older members of the church might leave a temple or library for an extended period dogma dogma dogma  seek balance above good evil law or chaos fight to push back the encroachment of good just as you would the oppression of evil magic is the most important thing on oerth and it must be preserved so that the balance can be preserved   common aphorisms among the faithful of boccob include the following balance above morality knowledge above all; the central creed of the faith used as a mantra in times of stress it is so conditioned into new followers that if presented with an absurd question of choice of actions a believer believer's first choice is usually to quote it magic makes the world stranger than we could possibly imagine; a statement usually used as a response to folk that would doubt the existence of something bizarre in the world magic is the lifeblood of oerth; a follower of boccob is expected to nurture and protect magic as he would his own blood in this way he extends and invigorates his world just as eating sustains his own body and just as a sickened body cannot uphold the balance so to weakened magic cannot uphold oerth there are a number of stories common to the faithful three chief among them although they occasionally manage to be included in recorded texts most sages and scholars consider them myths they are known as boccob and the demon prince the wizard and the spell fountain and the lost spell and the end of magic day-to-day activities day-to-day activities day-to-day activities one of the more important duties of the various churches of boccob is the perservation of balance in lands where the forces of law chaos good or evil grow too strong and aggressive churches of boccob become more active in fighting their influence restoring the balance by opposing the more prevalent philosophies since local shifts are usually compensated elsewhere by opposing shifts they rarely have to expand their influence very far unless the offenders are trying to expand their influence beyond what they consider an acceptable amount they will ignore an introverted but extremist country that doesn't affect its neighbors but will take action against a small organization for good that actively works to promote its agenda in a widespread area besides this churches of boccob are also charged with research whenever they are of the opinion that their intervention isn't necessary although this is often into magical matters it also includes research into prophetic writings they guard these carefully to prevent the information within from falling into the wrong hands holy days & important ceremonies holy days & important ceremonies holy days & important ceremonies the great discovery is celebrated every needfest during which every temple of boccob honors their discoveries in lore and magic over the course of the previous year clerics of boccob take this opportunity to inform other temples of their ongoing work announce graduating wizards and acolytes and compare notes every 5 years they expand this holiday to include testing interested parties for magical or oracular talent sponsoring explorations into places they've unearthed with the potential for great magical finds and the restocking of their armories with useful magic items particularly wands either by creating more or buying those available given the importance of prophecy and divination among the faithful of boccob any major celestial conjunction is considered a holiday among their ranks they are considered a time to celebrate and analyze their future like all services involving boccob these conjunction holidays involve complex rituals incense burning and recitations from works honoring knowledge special magic items with symbolic significance are often used as well many of the great prophecies concerning future events are made during these conjunctions and such proclamations are often the focus of these celebrations when a ranking cleric or powerful wizard of the faith dies whether or not an actual prophet the last rite of the prophet is performed a somber holiday in the church clerics read a eulogy recite a list of significant magic and lore discovered by the deceased and walk the perimeter of the temple graveyard or magical site while burning potent incense before the burial the church uses a special ritual to draw some of the magical power from a recently-departed willing spirit to recharge a magic item partially; in this way a part of the person remains behind to aid the mortal world major centers of worship major centers of worship major centers of worship the high temple in greyhawk is the main center of the faith led by the high cleric ravel dasinder as a member of the city city's controlling oligarchy the church is a major force in the government of the area affiliated orders affiliated orders affiliated orders a minor order of clergy has recently arisen around the beliefs of a book considered heresy by many followers the rare water though small it is gaining strength among lawful followers of boccob these followers believe that magic is in fact a finite resource and every item created or spell cast expends a small part of it followers of this doctrine seek to limit the use of magic except for emergency situations policing themselves and others as best they are able vestments vestments vestments  day-to-day  purple robes with gold trim with further gold marking out a variety of magical runes across the robe  adventuring  generally the same though often duller than the vestments of the more settled clergy priest name loremaster reqs intelligence 14 or wisdom 16 prime_reqs intelligence wisdom alignment n weapons dagger flail knife mace sling staff staff-sling staff required by all followers armor any nonmetal major_sphere astral charm divination numbers thought minor_sphere creation elemental all guardian summoning time req_prof reading writing bonus_prof spellcraft priests of boccob have access to the spells disc of concordant opposition and boccob boccob's rolling cloud all priests of boccob can cast divination spells as if they were two levels higher in terms of range area of effect duration etc at 7th level priests of boccob can cast commune once per day at 10th level priests of boccob gain the ability to use magical items normally usable only by wizards 